This entry is further unscientific and anecdotal evidence that economically rational supply stops a retailer from reaching its potential.
This week we received 50% more of a weekly women’s magazine unexpectedly.
We decided to do a two day push and display the magazine prominently in our feature area as well as in the usual location.
The result is that by the end of yesterday, two days in, we had sold 20% more copies than we usually sold in a week.
The display took less than 10 minutes to put together and relied on the cover to sell itself. The additional stock allowed us to do the display.
While one could argue that the cover story is the reason for the success, I’d suggest that it may be a factor but not the factor. My theory is that there are many purchases of these magazines which are impulse and having the stock to display in the right place to attract the impulse decision is crucial.
This is why economically rational scale out decisions will push our sales down rather than grow them. We need spare stock so that we can invest the time and floor space in promoting product.
The extra sales from this promotion are doubly beneficial for us as we get to promote our magazine club card loyalty program and develop more long term relationships.